The Legend of Raven
by DarkArmedRanger
Summary: The story of Raven, and being the daughter of Will and Alyss Treaty she has a lot to live up to. Her dream is to become a ranger, just like her father - but will the corps allow a female to be apprenticed? Please R&R, this is my first story.
1. Prologue

**So, yeah. This is the prologue to my new story. It's my first story, please review and tell me if I'm any good or just crap. I will continue for a few chapters, then I'll stop if you all think it's very bad. Just R & R. PLEASE.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own ranger's apprentice. However, I do own Raven. Lucky me.**

Prologue

"Will?" called Alyss, as she searched around for her husband. This was the problem with being married to a ranger, they can just slip off without you noticing and you get worried, thinking something's happened to them. "Will!" she called again, a little more urgently this time.

"Here I am, sorry about that!" Will said as he dropped down from the tree he'd been in, seemingly looking for something. "I could have sworn we were being watched, we're on a secret mission here!"

"Do you really think those idiotic wargals would be stealthily following us and then watching us without charging in and trying to kill us?"

"Well no, but..."

"Why on Earth were you giving me such a fright then?"

"You never know, one of Zyron's lieutenants could have been following us!" Alyss then sighed.

"I still can't believe you rangers didn't know Morgarath had a son, and now he's an even bigger threat than Morgarath! He's gathered together all of the remaining wargals, and he's even managed to find a group of five more kalkara in those damn mountains of rain & night!"

This news came as a shock to Alyss and Will's 12 year old daughter, Raven, who had been eavesdropping in the trees, unknown to either of her parents. Ever since she was 4 she'd watched her father train his ranger skills, so watching him she could pick up a few things. Also she watched her father train his apprentice, James, who left just a year ago. She'd picked up a few things about moving silently and staying unseen from James and her father, and had eavesdropped on him before. She wasn't anywhere near as good as a ranger like her father or James, or even Halt, a legendary ranger who had taught her father, but she had only seen him a few times in her life. She had picked up news of a possible new war breaking out but she had never dreamed Morgarath had a son and was gathering the wargals up for war. The kalkara was the worst bit though. She had heard tales of her father's little 'adventure' with the last two kalkara. Raven got really scared when she heard there were five.

All Raven had ever wanted to be was a ranger, like her father, but she was facing the rather large problem that there'd never been a female ranger before. That doesn't mean there can't be one, there's a first time for everything,she thought desperately. One day, she would become a ranger and live up to her father's skill, and even his mentor Halt's. She hadn't told her parents yet, she thought her mother might want for her to be a courier. Fat chance, she thought. She'd never have the grace or diplomatic skill to be a courier. She searched around for a while and found her father's old recurve bow that he kept to remind him of his training. She'd been stealing it to train herself since she was 8, and she was glad to think that she had some of her father's natural talent. She was better than any of the royal children, who she had seen many times and befriended well, because of her parents' friendship with the crown prince and princess of Araluen, Horace and Cassandra. She shot one of her self-made arrows into the tree stump, directly where she'd aimed, as she thought miserably about her probable future life as a courier. She'd have to speak up about her dreams to her parents in the next few years, she just had to.


	2. A Birthday To Remember

**Yay! Chapter One! And only a day after the prologue! ...lol. So as I said in the prologue, this is my first fanfic so please go ahead and review. If you like it, review and tell me you like it and I should continue. If you think it's OK but needs a lot of improvement, suggestions please. If you hate it, review and tell me you hate it. Whatever. JUST REVIEW.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own ranger's apprentice. However, I do own Raven. Lucky me.**

**Oh, and sorry about the cliffhanger at the end, I couldn't resist.**

A Birthday To Remember

Raven PoV

_Roughly three years later_

"Happy 15th birthday Raven!" exclaimed Mum and Dad as they ran into the room, waking me up earlier than I'd like and chuckling slightly. They knew full well that I hated getting up this early, especially on my birthday.

"So Mum, Dad, what is your excuse for getting me up at such an ungodly hour this time?" I replied groggily, rubbing the sleet from my eyes."

"Excuse, what do you mean excuse?" replied Mum sarcastically, "Will, can you think of any reason not to wake someone up at this time?"

"Not at all, Alyss, not at all! I love getting up early in the morning! More time to prepare for the day ahead, eh, Raven?"

"Whatever!" I drawled back, in the most Halt-like voice I could muster, "if you need so much time to prepare then why are you a ranger? I thought you had to be both physically and mentally fast. You, Dad, are obviously neither!" Mum looked slightly taken aback at first but when she saw dad doing his best to stay serious and suppress his fit of giggles, she couldn't help but laugh.

"You might not want to do that impression in front of Halt, Raven, I'm not quite sure what his reaction would be!" said dad between his laughter.

"Yeah, I remember him making your father spending the night up a tree for making up a parody of Old Joe Smoke about him, Greybeard Halt," cut in mum.

"Oh really," I said micheviously, "you must play that for me sometime!"

"Okay, I'd love to; let me just go get my mandola!" said Dad, in an equally mischievous tone. He came back, mandola in hand, and sat down on the end of my bed, and started playing the intro, quite fluently too. He started the first verse:

_Greybeard Halt is a fighting man, I've heard common talk_

_That Greybeard Halt he cuts his hair with a carving knife and fork_

_Fare thee well Greybeard Halt, fare thee well I say_

_Fare thee well, Greybeard Halt tomorrow's another day_

He then continued to play an intricate pattern of chords and notes inbetween verses; I had no idea my dad could play the mandola so well. By now both me and mum were in fits of laughter, and even dad was struggling to suppress his laughter. He continued:

_Greybeard Halt he lives with the goats, that's what I've heard tell_

_He hasn't changed his socks for years, but the goats don't mind the smell._

_Fare thee well, Greybeard Halt, fare thee well I..._

"I think that's quite enough!" interrupted Halt, who chose that very moment to appear at the door, his face in deep shades of red, not looking at all amused. Me, mom and dad and burst into laughter at the sight of him. "What do all of you young people find so funny?"

"Your face, Gramps, just look at your face!" I said, whilst still doubling over with laughter. I had names for all the people I was close to that I used to annoy them. I called Halt gramps as he looks old and I can tell he sees Dad as a son, I call Dad chocho because I mum was telling me about a little 'adventure' they had in nihon-ja, and she 'let slip' that the people there gave dad the nickname 'chocho' meaning butterfly, although she conveniently forgot to tell me why. I didn't really have a name for mum or Pauline, as I didn't really see Pauline much and mum is the kind of person who is very hard to annoy, even jokingly.

"Raven Treaty, don't think I won't reprimand you for that!" said Halt as he got even redder. However, none of us could see that he was in fact grinning under his cowl.

"Trust me, he will," cut in dad.

"Oh he really will," added mum.

"Don't think I'll leave you out either, William Treaty!" interjected Halt. That made dad quieten down a bit; he hated it when people called him 'William' instead of just 'Will', and he knew better than anyone what Halt's punishments could be like, even his 'Joke' ones. He really does have a sick sense of humour sometimes, I thought.

"Everyone get out so I can get changed now!" I said and dad almost knocked Halt over trying to get to the coffee first.

"Rangers!" muttered mum under her breath.

"Hey no fair! Leave some coffee for me, it is my birthday!" I shouted after them, I have a love of coffee with honey similar to all of the rangers I know. That's one of the reasons I think I'll make a good one. So I pulled on the first clothes I could find and rushed to get some coffee before dad and Halt scoffed it all.

"Oh, I almost forgot! Here's your present Raven," said Halt, pulling out a package from under his cloak, in a better mood now he'd had some coffee. I proceeded to open it up and was surprised with what I found.

"Wow! A recurve bow! Thanks!" I said enthusiastically, when I opened it and found what was inside.

"I know how much you like hunting, so I thought you'd like a new bow," replied Halt, which was technically true. Mum raised a Halt eyebrow at this and went to get something, and Halt winked at me behind mum's back. I guess dad told him that I wanted to be a ranger. I told dad a few months ago, but I haven't told mum yet. I think she wants me to be a courier, like her, so I don't know what her reaction would be.

I sat there for a moment, reminiscing about that conversation a few months ago.

_Mum was away on a mission, and me and dad sat at the table drinking coffee. With honey it it. Anyway, I thought it was a perfect chance to have that conversation about wanting to be a ranger._

"_Umm, dad?" _

"_Yes Raven?"_

"_Well, you've been asking for a while what I want to do when I'm older, and I said that I don't know. Well, that's not completely true."_

"_Go on then, what do you want to do?" replied dad. He had a glint in his eyes as if he knew what I was going to say, but it was slightly approving. That gave me a confidence boost._

"_Well, I didn't want to say this in front of mum, because I think she wants me to be a courier, but I really don't want to be a courier. I would suck at it. I mean, me? Graceful?" Dad chuckled._

"_Yeah, you keep following us and eavesdropping on our secret conversations about Zyron's movements. I was impressed with your skill, but there is definite room for improvement."_

"_Wait, how did you-"_

"_I am a ranger, Raven. Please do not insult my skill."_

"_Then why didn't you call me out on it?"_

"_Because I was testing your skill, and I think you deserve to know these things. I don't know where your mother stands on this, however."_

"_It was a test? But then-"_

"_Yes, I have kind of guessed that you want to be a ranger. I am a decent ranger myself, as you very well know, so I am rather good at noticing things." That last sentence was said with an air of jokiness to it._

"_Yeah, but will they let a female in the corps?"_

"_Well Halt agrees with me on this. They will once they see your skill. However, some of the rangers, such as Meralon, who I personally see as an idiotic buffoon, and I believe Gilan shares my view on that, are a little old-fashioned. They may be unwilling, but the majority would accept you, I believe. Halt and I both think you have a decent amount of skill already. Tell me, how did you learn to move stealthily? I know that you've been practising archery since you were seven, so your skill with a bow is no surprise."_

_I blushed slightly at that. Praise on stealth movements and archery was something when coming from a ranger, even my own father. However, I know that Halt is an extremely hard man to please so if he's praising you, you know you've done really well._

"_Umm, well I've always been good at noticing. I kinda just watched you practising with Gilan and your old apprentice, James, and just copied what you did, and heard a couple of tips. I'm also quite naturally light on my feet, as you very well know."_

"_Yes, that was quite funny, watching Halt chase you and fail dismally at catching you, after you eavesdropped on our conversation indeed." He chuckled at the memory. "I think you'd be a good ranger, but let's wait till you're 15 and see about it then."_

I was still smiling fondly at the memory when mum called me from the other room.

"Raven, if you want a present from your mother and father you'd better get in here quickly!" shouted mum from her and dad's bedroom.

"Coming mum!" I raced into their bedroom and saw two parcels, one looked slightly squishy and the other was like a large-ish box. She handed me the large one first.

"Inside there are presents from Gilan + Jenny and the family, and also Princess Cassandra and Prince Horace, and the royal children. Your father brought them back from Castle Araluen after his debriefing from his last assignment, and they all said they're sorry they can't come. Gilan is off on some mission in Hibernia, Jenny is busy with the restaurant, and Horace + Cassandra are busy helping King Duncan with royal duties. He's getting a bit frail in his old days." And with that, she smirked slightly.

Out of all of our group of kids, the royal children, Gilan + Jenny's kids and me and my Older brother, the oldest is Daniel, he's 23. He's my brother. He is the current ranger of meric fief, which I think used to be Gilan's. Halt apprenticed him as my father didn't want an apprentice just yet, and Gilan was away on a mission. Also he wanted Halt to apprentice him. Halt is a great teacher.

Then comes junior, the 17 year old son of Horace and Cassandra, and being the oldest of their kids he is therefore next in line to the throne after them He's in his third year of battleschool, and doing quite well I believe. Then comes me.

After me is Ariadne, she prefers to just be called Aria, daughter of Gilan + Jenny. She's 13 and is a decent cook, although I don't think she wants to take it up as a career. She helps her mother out in her restaurant when she needs it and she is quite tall, elegant and clever. She has all the makings of a good courier.

Next is the ten year old royal twins, Evanlyn and Carl. Yes, Cassandra did name her daughter after the name she used whilst incognito in abroad missions, I believe. Anyway, Carl wants to be a knight and Evanlyn officially 'doesn't know what she wants to do when she grows up'. However, we are good friends and she confided to me that she wouldn't mind being a ranger, so she's in the same situation as myself.

Last but not least, is Luke, 6 year old son of Gilan + Jenny. I haven't really seen him much and he's a bit yound to really know what he wants to do when he's older.

"Raven, don't you want to open it?" said dad, slightly impatiently, bringing me back from deep in my thoughts. I hadn't noticed him and Halt walk into the room, stealthy as always. He may have learned patience as a ranger, but his natural curiosity was always going to be stronger. I smirked inwardly. I opened it and let out a gasp at the beautiful arrows Gilan and family had given me.

"They're beautiful!" I exclaimed.

"And they're damn well balanced too," growled Halt. I could see a slight hint of admiration in his eyes, admiration of the arrows.

I said, "Hmm, I'll have to mark these later." Every good archer has his (or her) own 'mark' on his arrows that made them unique. Halt's all have black shafts. Dad's all have a silver stripe all the way down the shaft. Gilan's have golden feathers. And mine all have a small light blue section of the shaft, just below the tip.

The royals gave me some money with a note saying to come visit them sometime, and also some carving equipment. Everyone knows I'm a bit of a tomboy, so I'm glad no-one sent me jewellery or any of that crap, I hate it. And then I realised: I hadn't had a present from mum and dad yet.

"Happy 15th birthday Raven, we hope that whatever career choice you make in the near future you are successful in it!" mum said, with a glint in her eye, whilst handing me the other package. Had she guessed I wanted to be a ranger? I guessed immediately it was from mum and dad, and I ripped it open real quick. Inside was a new outfit, which looked built more for mobility than anything else. Not that I was disappointed. It was great, I loved it. But what interested me more was what fell out of the clothes when I unfolded them...


	3. Author's Note

**Hey guys, DarkArmedRanger here. This story will be updated around the weekend time, maybe sooner. I have writer's block and can't think what should be the item that was inside the clothes. Yeah I know, I really lead you on into thinking I had it planned. Well, serves you right for being as gullible as Horace! *Laughs loudly* *Awkward silence* *Grumbles* Fine, don't find my jokes funny. Now I know how Baron Arald feels...**

**Anyway, if you have any suggestions review/PM me and tell me please. I should hopefully update this weekend at some point or if not, sooner.**

**In the mean time I'm working on a second story called Hell's Rangers (title may be subject to change). I got the idea from a great little story I read on here called 'The Dark Ranger' (can't remember who wrote it sorry!) but mine's a lot different so I'm not just outright copying. I'm still only thinking up the ideas so it may not be out for a while. Just saying. Oh and before I forget, REVIEW THE STORY!**


	4. The Makings Of A Legend

**YAY Chapter 2! Thanks to the reviews I've seen so far, I always love support, even if it's anonymous! Follow their example and REVIEW! Go on, it's only 5 minutes of your time!...unless...I hack your computer...and force it into a permanent rickroll...and the only way you could turn it off is by smashing your computer with a baseball bat. Nah, I'm just joking, I wouldn't do that to you guys. Well, maybe if you don't review... *grins and laughs evilly* Nah, I was just joking...or was I?**

**Guess what guys, DISCLAIMER TIME!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own ranger's apprentice. However, I do own Raven. Lucky me.**

**Oh and as I said in the 'review' I posted, I plan to hopefully update at least twice a week, usually on weekends, but occasionally otherwise. But, who knows? My plans might get majorly screwed up. Thanks to wolfdragonz for suggesting the idea I've decided to use, I totally agree with you man. By the way, this chapter will be my longest yet, because I haven't updated in a few days.**

The Makings Of A Legend

Still Raven PoV, And Will Be Until I Say Otherwise

A double scabbard containing... a ranger's knives! I was so elated at this moment in time that I stared at them in awe, not noticing what was different. Mum and dad had huge grins on their faces at my reaction. I could tell even Halt was smiling, as he quickly pulled up his cowl, which normally means he's trying to hide a show of emotion.

"I don't think she liked it," said dad sarcastically.

"Definitely not," replied mum, equally as sarcastic.

At closer inspection I noticed the saxewas different to all of the other rangers' saxes that I had seen. It was made of that same special blu-ish tinted steel, but the hilt was different. It just looked...good. It had a decorative pattern on it, and the araluen courier symbol.

"How did you-" I started to ask, before being cut off by mum.

"What, do you think I'm blind? You want to be a ranger and I respect that; we should all make our own decisions in life. 'Questioning' your father confirmed my suspicions, and he and Halt both agree that you would make a great ranger."

"Thanks. For everything." I said, widening the grin on my mum's face. I hadn't noticed how large mine had gotten either, Halt wasn't one to give praise lightly. Not without some witty remark afterwards to make you feel worse, anyway.

"Alyss, Raven, Will, If your grins widen any more you'll have to see a healer!" Said Halt, making us all laugh.

"So I take it I get to train as a ranger then?" I said, trying to sound a bit more serious and less excited, but failing dismally.

"Well, obviously, we wouldn't have just given you a ranger's knives if you weren't going to become a ranger," Said dad.

"Am I allowed to? Me being a girl and all, and females have never been accepted into the corps before."

"Well, some rangers questioned it, but the only real reason there hasn't been any female rangers before is that we haven't seen any women with the skills necessary that want to be a ranger. Common folk think us sorcerers, you know," was dad's reply. I laughed at that.

"How anyone could think my fool of a father was a sorcerer I don't know!" I exclaimed jokingly. I could have sworn I heard a chuckle escape Halt at that.

"Anyway, Halt checked with Crowley, who said it would be ok as long as you share at least SOME of my ranger talent!" Interjected dad, wanting to change the subject.

"Bigheaded or what," said mum under her breath, making us laugh again.

"So, dad, am I gonna be apprenticed to you or Halt or another ranger?"

"Well, Halt's getting a bit old for apprentices, and I don't think any of the other rangers could put up with you," said dad, earning scowls from me and Halt in the process, "so I guess I'll just have to teach you."

"Yes, well, we've needed another member for the special task force since Horace and Cassandra took over royal duties after Duncan's assassination two years ago. Being king, Horace can't exactly just wander off and do dangerous missions in foreign countries, now can he?" Said Halt.

I'd been 13 when I'd heard the news of Duncan's death, killed in his sleep by a genesovian hired by the temuljai. I heard dad, Halt and Horace all tracked both the genesovian and the man who paid him down and killed them. Cassandra wanted to go too, but she had to look after their kids.

Anyway, what Halt just said suddenly dawned on me.

"I get to be in the special task force?" I 'squealed' excitedly.

"If you're good enough, after a year or so of apprenticeship, or maybe even sooner, I don't know," said dad, "for now Gilan will take my place whilst I'm training you. But with all of the treaties we've secured over the years there's not much call for the task force anymore."

This was true, I realised. Araluen now had treaties with just about every country I've heard of, except for Iberion, which was a country of cowards, so they weren't much of a threat, and the temuljai.

I thought quietly to myself that we might be seeing a lot more missions than dad expected; the time seemed ripe for the temuljai to try and invade the western world again. Dad, Halt, Horace and Cassandra helped the skandians stop them invading last time, and Halt 'helped' the previous time.

"Anyway, Raven, I figured I'd let you enjoy your birthday, and we'll start training in a couple days, or sooner if you want."

"Why not tomorrow?"

"Ah, well, I thought we might surprise everyone and go and pay a visit to Castle Araluen; no-one besides the senior rangers and you're mother know you're going to be apprenticed, and I seem to remember Gilan was away when we had that meeting. Although I suspect most people have guessed this was what you wanted," said dad.

"We're going to Castle Araluen?" I asked, surprised.

"Didn't I just say that?" replied dad, slightly mischievously.

"Why must you always answer questions with questions?" I replied, mimicking Halt's grim tone and mannerisms. "Time for some coffee!"

Even under his cowl, I could see that Halt's cheeked had reddened, and he was doing his best to look unimpressed. I could tell that he was secretly grinning, however. The rest of us were in fits of laughter."

"What's so funny?" I heard another voice at the door. I turned around to see my brother Daniel walking in, a curious look on his face.

"Dan!" I shouted, running up to hug my older brother. We'd always been close, and I hadn't seen him for eight months. He'd been busy with an annoying bandit organisation in his fief that kept coming back and another mission he was sent on.

I was surprised to see that mum and dad were surprised; I thought this might have been a surprise planned by them.

"Daniel, I thought you said you wouldn't be back from your mission on time, it's great to see you!" Mum said, genuinely surprised and happy.

"Yeah, well, I managed to track the thieves down quicker than expected, earning some delicious Arridian coffee from Selethen in the process," replied Dan, "and you'll never guess what I found out. The outsiders are back. Only this time, they're based in Gallica." The news struck the others hard, but I couldn't remember hearing of the outsiders before.

"Wait, you were in Arridia?" I said, disbelievingly.

"Yes," smiled my brother, "I'll tell you all about it later." That's when it hit me. The outsiders were a group of liars and thieves who went around, pretending to be following a religion they made up, and unknowingly to the villagers causing stress and disaster in their towns. The outsiders then claimed to know what was going on, and their gods would help for donations of money. Of course, the outsiders took the money for themselves and stopped causing the disasters.

It was a clever scheme, but I thought my dad Halt, and Horace's mission to get rid of them permanently had been a success; Halt had nearly died in the process. Evidently not.

"Now is not the time to discuss such matters. Today is young Raven's 15th birthday; an important age for all, as I have no doubt you're aware," said Halt.

"Of course I know my own sister's birthday, you idiot," replied Dan.

"Yes, but there's something you don't know," replied Halt.

"What?" said Dan, scowling.

"You're going to be the brother of the first ever female ranger in the corps," said dad.

"Really! That's great!" Said Dan, turning around to face me, a huge grin forming on his face, but not looking too surprised. I had forgotten that he was the one person I actually confided my wishes of becoming a ranger to, and he helped me improve my bow skills. We both take after our dad, with uncanny natural accuracy with the bow. The first time I ever used one was with Dan, and he was impressed.

Several hours later after assurances from many people in Redmont, the Baron, Battlemaster and Lady Pauline included, that I would make a great ranger, we set off for Araluen. We walked through the bustling market streets and found Jenny's restaurant, and it just so happened that Gilan's horse, Inferno, was tethered outside. I remember his old horse, Blaze, dying. He was distraught; all rangers share a special relationship with their horse, and Blaze was getting old.

I found it funny how the two horses had similar names, but still. Alyss took our horses and snuck them into the barn whilst the three rangers and I snuck inside. Normally, Gilan would have noticed us, but he was pre-occupied in conversation with Jenny, who was taking a break for lunch. The kids were out. Oh well, I thought, we'll see them later anyhow.

He probably would have noticed most people but not rangers and I had developed some skill in stealthy movement, also. However, if he was concentrating, Gil would have noticed us. He is widely regarded as the best unseen mover in the corps, after all.

As we snuck inside, Jenny noticed us and had a surprised expression on her face, and was about to say something when I silenced her with a gesture. I tried to silently tell her we wanted to make Gilan jump, and she kind of caught my drift. Gilan didn't seem to notice us at all. As we got closer, I caught bits of their conversation.

"I wonder how Raven is doing, I've just realised it is her birthday. I hope her presents got to her safe and well," said Gilan, "I wonder what she'll decide to do, she is 15 now. I have my suspicions, but..."

"Ask her yourself" I interjected, making Gilan jump out his skin. Everyone started laughing.

"Seriously, Gilan, I think you're losing your touch," said dad, "you're supposed to be the best unseen mover in the ranger corps, yet you didn't notice myself, a doddery old fool of a ranger, a 15 year old girl and one of the I think 3 most junior rangers in the corps sneak up on you? You need to be more aware." Gilan looked flabbergasted.

"Will, what did you just call me?" Said Halt.

"Umm, a doddery old fool believe," replied dad, chuckling at Halt's reaction.

"Do you WANT to spend the night up a tree?"

"Why yes I do!" said dad sarcastically. I had a sort of skill of reading people's hidden emotions, which was useful with Halt. Then, for example, he was pretending to be annoyed, but I could tell he was probably inwardly grinning that they were joking around, like old times.

"Haven't seen any of you in a while! It's great to see you!" said Gilan, as soon as he stopped blubbering and managed to talk again. "So Raven, what are you planning to do with your future?"

"Haven't you heard?" I replied, "Wait, I forgot, I seem to remember dad saying something about you not being at the meeting when it was announced." Recognition dawned on his face, and his eyes flicked towards the double scabbard, now around my waist. He grinned.

"I suspected that was what you wanted to do!" exclaimed Gilan, "I could tell you had the talent for it, but I didn't know if they'd accept a girl!"

"Thanks," I muttered, before talking more clearly again. "So you're not all that thick then."

Jenny still didn't understand what we were on about, and I saw the look of burning curiosity on her face.

"What are you all going on about?" She finally asked. Everyone grinned. I looked to Dan, who hadn't spoken much.

"Well, Jenny," he said, "it seems you haven't caught on yet. Raven is going to train as the first female ranger."

"Really? That's wonderful! I'll cook you a batch of pies for celebration! I did wonder whether you'd want to be a ranger, and whether you'd be accepted, or whether you'd be a courier like your mother."

"Nah, she's too rough and wild like us to be a courier, not to mention headstrong like her father," interjected Halt, attempting to get back at dad for earlier. However, dad merely grinned. I rolled my eyes. They were always going at each other one way or another. Then I realised that I was just like them.

"Have you got any coffee? Also some honey?" I asked.

"Just from that one question, well technically two questions, I can tell you'll make a great ranger," replied Jenny, "and the answer's yes. Got to be with Gilan 'living' here."

"True, True," I replied, and everyone laughed. It was a widely known fact to anyone who was friends with the rangers that pretty much every ranger was addicted to coffee, and Halt and his apprentices were famous for liking it with honey. With that, Jenny left out of the other door to go make the pies and told Gilan to make coffee. At that moment Alyss walked in. "I wondered where you'd got to, mum. We managed to give Gilan here quite a fright, shame you missed it, it was hilarious."

"Is that what you're all laughing about now?"

"Nah, we're laughing at a remark about coffee."

"Ah," she said, and smiled knowingly at me. After a while Jenny came back with some of the most delicious pies I'd ever tasted, and we all sat round and ate whilst drinking coffee. They gave us three separate rooms to sleep in at their restaurant/inn, and we decided to turn in and see Horace and Cassandra in the morning. They had the matter of the outsiders to discuss.

I shared with my brother, Dan. I didn't mind sharing with a male, as they were two separate beds and he is my brother, and we gave each other privacy to get changed. Mum and Dad shared a double room, and Halt had his own room. I would have said he was lucky but he was right next to Gilan and Jenny's room. Apparently, 'he struggled to get to sleep because of Gilan's incessant snoring, and he was amazed how Jenny could get to sleep in the same room as such noise'.

In the morning, He decided to confront this 'issue'.

"Jenny, how on earth do you get to sleep next to someone making such a racket?" asked Halt.

"Oh it's easy," replied Jenny, "you just have to make sure you get to sleep first." We had a quick breakfast and then departed for the castle, Gilan opting to tag along with us. Halt and Crowley needed desperately to discuss the matters of the outsiders, Horace and Cassandra needed to be informed and Dan had to be formally debriefed. We had a long day ahead of us.

**So guys I hope you enjoyed this chapter; next one should be along in a day or two. Possibly longer, because there's some stuff I gotta do, but hopefully not. If you're particularly interested in Nihon-Ja, you may want to check out another story I'm developing (the prologue should be out soon) called "The Rangers Of Nihon-Ja". Thanks again to wolfdragonz for giving me the idea of the ranger knives.**


	5. Catching Up

**Two chapters in two days! What is this sorcery! Lol. Anyway thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far, and the Nihon-Ja story I mentioned I changed the name to "Beginnings Of The Nihn-Ja" (although the dash doesn't show up for some reason). If you are interested in Nihon-Ja you might want to check it out, although until I get more reviews, it probably won't get updated as frequently as this (although that's not too frequent lol, I do have things I need to do). OM NOM NOM NOM COFFEE. Oops, did I just type that? Meh. Might as well leave it there. Why the heck am I typing my thoughts? I'd better stop now and type the disclaimer.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own ranger's apprentice. However, I do own Raven. Lucky me. Oh wait, I also own any other characters that John Flanagan doesn't. Unless you made them up. In which case you own them. So yeah.**

**I did a time skip of, like, absolutely ages. It took a whole ten minutes for them to get up to the castle. I skipped a whole ten minutes! How could I do such a thing?**

Catching Up

Raven was enjoying herself immensely. Sadly, Aria and Luke stayed weren't able to join them. Aria hadn't even got up yet but she had told Jenny the night before she would help keep the restaurant running if she wanted to go out for a while. She was very knowledgeable. Luke couldn't come as he had lessons. Still, Raven was looking forward to chatting to Junior, Evanlyn and Carl.

They had been heading towards the castle for ten minutes, making several humorous remarks along the way, some of them involving coffee. Her dad and Gilan were taking it in turns to try and put Halt down, but Halt just rose an eyebrow and gave them a death glare before they mumbled "sorry, Halt."

It was actually rather funny. Both being former apprentices of Halt's, they kept trying to annoy him, but failed dismally. Although Dan had also been Halt's apprentice, he only graduated a couple of years ago so he knew better.

"So, Halt, why haven't you retired yet? You're getting a bit old for this aren't you?" I asked Halt, smirking. He attempted to give me the death glare, but I just smiled sweetly.

"He made a bet with Crowley as to who'd retire first. At this rate I think both of them will just end up going on until they die," said Gilan.

"How did you know about that?" asked Halt.

"You forget, I'm the best unseen mover in the corps!"

"And you have the biggest head to go with it too," I interjected, getting chuckles from everyone, even Gilan.

"You spied on us?" asked Halt, regaining his seriousness and grimness.

"Of course. You're getting a bit bad at noticing things in your old age."

"I see you haven't managed to spy on me yet," replied dad, "well, you may think you have, such as at the last gathering whilst I was talking to Meralon."

"You managed to notice Gilan whilst distracted by talking to that idiot?" interjected Halt, getting laughs from all rangers present. I guessed Meralon wasn't a very good ranger. "You should be known as the best person at noticing things in the corps! Then again, you were the only apprentice ever to find Crowley's hiding spot..."

"Really, I thought loads of people found that! It was rather obvious..."

"What hiding spot?" asked Dan and Gilan together.

"See, told you, even one of our senior rangers didn't find it." There was a grin on dad's face after Halt said that.

A couple of minutes later they found themselves inside the castle, and greeted by familiar voices. Horace and Junior appeared from around the corner, chatting about swordplay. I smiled inwardly. According to Baron Arald, King Horace was one of the few natural swordfighters he had ever seen, and he had years of experience of training to back that up, making him possibly the most skilled swordfighter in the kingdom.

And here he was instructing his son.

Anyway, the noticed us, and stood still, a huge grin forming on Horace's face.

"It's great to see you all, to what do I owe this pleasure?" Raven smiled inwardly. Even since Horace became King of Araluen, he retained his manners.

"My lord, we came yesterday, celebrating Raven's birthday, and we bring news," said Dan almost mockingly.

"We are friends, you do not have to use my title. Just call me Horace."

"We know that, my lord, but sometimes it's fun to," interjected dad. Horace sighed. Junior was smiling at his father's annoyance.

"Well if you have news I guess we'd better go and sit down. Oh, and we're out of coffee," said Horace, grinning smugly. The faces of Dan, Halt and dad were so panic-stricken, it was humorous. I was about to start laughing when I realised I had that same look on my own face. Silence ensued.

"What! Out of coffee?" said Halt, unable to take the silence any longer. Horace grinned mischievously.

"Just kidding. Of course we're not out of coffee!" Said Horace, and he, Junior, Jenny and mum all started laughing. All of us rangers went red except for Halt, who gave Horace a death glare. Horace immediately stopped laughing.

"Although we might be soon if you lot stay for long." And with that last remark, Horace turned away and ushered us to follow. Well, Junior went to train but the rest of us followed. He led us in to the main chamber of the castle, where Queen Cassandra stood talking to someone, probably a maid. She turned around and saw us enter.

"Will! Alyss! Daniel! Raven! Gilan! Jenny! What are you all doing here?" she asked, sounding quite happy that they were all meeting up. "Perhaps you would like to stay for lunch?"

"That would be great," replied Halt, "but do you know where Crowley is? We have urgent news, it is one of the reasons we are here. I will go and discuss it with him whilst the others will fill you in, I'm sure. Oh, and we need to formally debrief Daniel."

"Oh, ok. Last I heard he was in his quarters." And off Halt went, quick as a flash, Dan following.

"What urgent news?" asked Horace.

"We don't know much yet, but we believe that the outsiders may be active again and based in Gallica," said dad. Horace tensed.

"Somehow it doesn't surprise me they were able to pull their trick against the gallicans," Gilan said, Horace nodding his agreement.

"Daniel discovered them whilst on his recent mission in Gallica. We don't know much yet, so I suggest we wait for Halt, Daniel and Crowley to come back before we get into talking about any plans of action," said Dad, Gilan nodding his head in agreement.

"Good idea, and in the mean time we can catch up," said mum brightly.

"Ah, yes, any news? And sorry we missed your birthday, Raven, I know 15 is an important year and all, choosing what you're going to be doing for much of your life, but as the royal family, we can't exactly take a day off," said Cassandra.

"No, I understand, and thanks for the present you sent," I replied, smiling; I was still in a happy mood from finding out I was to become a ranger.

"That being said, have you decided what you want to do yet?" asked Horace.

"Yes," I replied simply.

"What is it?"

"SURELY you notice something different about me," I replied, adding a spoonful of honey to my cup of the coffee that had just arrived, before taking a large gulp. Gilan sniggered at the large hint I'd given with the coffee, and just carried on when he realised Horace was none the wiser.

"What? What's so funny?" asked Horace.

"You, of all people, SERIOUSLY notice nothing different?" I replied, dropping my eyes to the double scabbard that now resided around my waistline. Thankfully, Horace took the hint this time, and a look of realisation dawned on his face. He had, after all, spent much of his time with rangers.

"Oh," he said, grinning, "good for you, I'm glad you've been accepted,"

Cassandra still looked confused.

"Would somebody mind telling me what on earth is going on?" asked Cassandra, and everyone, even Horace laughed.

"To be fair," said Jenny, between laughs, "I'd probably be as confused as you in your position, but that doesn't stop this from being so funny!"

Cassandra scowled at Horace, who stopped laughing.

"Hey don't look at me like that, I'm not the one who started this."

"Yes, but you are the one who I'm staring at and won't tell me the reason their laughing."

"Think about it for a second," said dad, not wanting trouble to brew.

Cassandra stood there for a moment deep in thought, until a look of realisation dawned on her face.

"Oh, really, that's great news! How did I not realise it, what with the coffee hint, and oh yes, the double scabbard," said Cassandra, clearly sounding frustrated with herself that she had not seen it sooner, "but I thought that they didn't allow females in the corps."

"It's not that we don't allow them, Cass, it's just that we haven't yet found a female who has both the skills and desire to become a ranger. You forget, most people think us black magicians," said dad.

"Fair enough. Raven - who's teaching you, and when do you start training?"

"Dad, and I keep asking him that." Cassandra chuckled. At that moment Halt, Dan and Crowley walked in.

"Hullo," said Dan cheerily, "what were you guys talking about?"

"Oh, only when I start training, which hopefully will be soon." Dan frowned.

"Dad, shouldn't you two start training as soon as possible? There's only a little over a month to go until gathering."

"Crap, I forgot. Raven, we'll start training tomorrow morning. Prepare yourself for hard work." I smirked. It was just like Dan to be the one to bring our dad back down to earth.

"If you don't mind, could we now turn ourselves back to the topic of the outsiders?" said Horace.

"Erm, yes, sorry about that," said dad sheepishly.

"Jenny, Raven, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave. We don't have any solid fact and it won't do good telling you rumours," said Horace, and then seeing the look on my face, added, "although I'm sure you'll find out soon enough."

"I think I'll leave as well. I could do with some practice and I've heard it all already anyways," said Dan. I was planning on eavesdropping, but Dan gave me a 'follow me' sort of look.

I followed Dan outside and into a sort of yard area, there was a small clearing with a few targets set up.

"Trust me, you're not missing anything. All we know for definite is that the outsiders are active and are based in Gallica," said Dan, quickly aiming and shooting at 3 targets within 10 seconds, all hitting the bullseye.

"And what do Crowley and Halt assume?" I knew from dad that the two most senior rangers in the corps had a knack for assuming things which usually turn out true.

"Well, they seem to be sailing to eastern parts of Araluen, so Halt and Crowley are guessing that the outsiders are attempting to get a foothold in the kingdom, before getting more control." And with that, Dan went back to his training.

I sat there watching my brother for a few minutes more when I heard someone approaching from inside. Two people in fact. I turned to see Evanlyn and Carl, rushing towards us with delight. Carl went over to Dan and started talking to him, and Evanlyn came over to me.

"Hi. We sort of guessed you would be here," said Evanlyn. She was only 10, but was very clever and seemed to have the mind of someone much older.

"Yeah. And guess what! I'm gonna be a ranger, I'll be dad's apprentice; I'm starting to train tomorrow morning!"

"Wow, that's great! So they allowed a girl into the corps, huh?" I could tell she was excited for me but there was a dreamy look in her eyes. At that moment, a call came from inside.

"You've all been requested to the dining hall for lunch," said a maid, popping her head round the door.

"You go on ahead," I said to Evanlyn and Carl, "I'll help Dan pack his stuff up." Evanlyn saw the meaningful look in my eye and nodded, departing and ushering for Carl to go with her. I waited till they were out of earshot.

"So, heard any news of Zyron recently?" I asked casually.

"No, he hasn't been active for three years. Wait a sec – how did you"

"I sorta used to eavesdrop on dad," I cut across him, smiling sheepishly. Dan however, looked impressed.

"Wow, managing to spy on dad? You'll be an amazing ranger."

"Well actually, he did notice me a few times. He just didn't mention anything; he was testing my ability."

"Ah, makes sense."

"Make a shot in to that target over there," I said, pointing at some target about 50 meters away, "and I bet I can beat it." Dan had a really surprised look on his face, but accepted nonetheless, staring at me uncertainly.

"If you're sure. You know how unlikely it is that you'll win, right? I am a ranger, after all." I just smiled sweetly at him, stringing the new bow Halt had given me for my birthday, and nocking one of my new arrows.

What Dan didn't know, of course, was that I'd been stealing dad's old recurve bow to practice with home-made arrows since I was 8, and I found that I had rather a natural flair for the bow. He took a shot and hit directly in the centre of the bullseye.

"Hah, I win, you can't exactly beat that. Feel free to take a shot anyway," he said, a smug grin on his face. Little did he know I was about to wipe it right off.

I stepped up to the mark as Dan put a leather cuff on my arm. I easily pulled the bow back to full draw; I knew all of the techniques because of countless hours watching dad train his old apprentice, Jack.

Dan looked slightly surprised that I knew how to use the bow. Anyway, I pulled it easily to full draw, and after a couple of quick mental calculations, released the arrow. I had never seen Dan's jaw drop so much in my life. It was now my turn to wear the smug grin on my face.

I too had hit the direct centre of the bullseye. What made the shot even more spectacular is that my arrow went into his, and straight through it, splitting it down the middle.

"Sorry about your arrow, but I think you deserved it with your cockiness." Dan's jaw was still dropped, his mouth gaping open. "Dan, you might accidentally swallow a fly in a minute."

He flushed.

"Raven, that was amazing!" He exclaimed breathlessly, "dad's in for a real shock tomorrow; where did you learn to shoot like that?"

"Umm, well, I've kind of been stealing dad's old recurve bow and practising with home-made arrows since I was 8," I explained, grinning sheepishly, "but please don't tell anyone, ok? Even dad."

"I won't," he said, grinning at me, a look of pride in his eyes.

The only reason I told him the truth was because he is my brother, and I felt I sort of owed it to him for nearly giving him a heart attack.

"Come on," I said, "they'll be wondering where we've gotten to. Also, don't tell dad or Halt about my bow skills either, not just how I got them: I want to surprise them tomorrow.

**So Raven's hidden talents and mischievous misdeeds have been discovered, nearly giving her brother a heart attack in the process. Sort of have plans forming for the next couple of chapters, but I'm always open to suggestions, and especially constructive criticism. Huge thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far, and if you haven't done so yet: REVIEW! Even if you have done so already, YOU'RE WELCOME TO REVIEW THIS CHAPTER!"**


	6. Prodigy in Training

**Hi there! Yes, I know what you're thinking: three chapters, so close together? He must be crazy! Well I sort of am. But that's beside the point. I have had a lot of work to do recently, but these last couple of chapters have been fun to write, and this next couple I can tell are gonna get a whole let funner! So I sorta said, "Screw the work, I have a story to write." Anyway, REVIEW. Like it? REVIEW AND SAY YOU LIKE IT. Hate it? REVIEW AND SAY YOU HATE IT. Got suggestions? REVIEW AND SUGGEST SUGGESTIONS. Couldn't care less? REVIEW AND SAY YOU COULDN'T CARE LESS. **

**Oh, and, to A REVIEWER chloe altman treaty, thanks for the ideas, but sadly I'd already done the opening it idea. I'm trying to think of a way that I might be able to integrate your other idea. It might come in a different form. I'll look into it. Thanks for the suggestions, anyhow. Hammer time! Ahem, sorry about that. I meant to type 'Disclaimer time!'**

**Disclaimer: I don't own ranger's apprentice. However, I do own Raven. Lucky me. Oh wait, I also own any other characters that John Flanagan doesn't. Woot, that means I own Dan! The skandians would probably give a decent amount for him...Nah, just kidding. I wouldn't sell him to a skandian. I'd force him to work for me instead. Joking.**

**Guess what? TIME SKIP AGAIN. I'm really gonna make you rage at some point with all this time skipping. Lol. This time, I somehow made it even longer – I basically skipped out the rest of the day. It is the next morning, and everyone is back in Redmont, waking up to an 'eventful' day. Well, read on and find out.**

Prodigy-In-Training

Will PoV (Yes, I felt like changing point of view for once. You can tell me whether you want me to do it more foten IN YOUR REVIEW.)

I got up that morning just before sunrise, as normal. However, what was different was that there was already breakfast for me on the table, and two people already sat there eating.

"Hullo, Raven, Halt," I said, seeing them both eating. "Ready for training, Raven? What brings you here Halt?"

"As soon as you are," was Raven's reply.

"I wanted to see whether your daughter is as good as you say she is, or as bad as you," was Halt's. Raven was grinning at me, so I returned the gesture.

"Gee, thanks Halt!" I replied sarcastically. "I must be the best ranger ever to get such a compliment from you!" At this I sat down and began to tuck in. "Raven, would you mind brewing some coffee?"

"Do you want to tell him or shall I?" Raven asked Halt, with a shifty look on her face.

"You."

"Erm, well, dad, you see – were out of coffee."

"What!" I said, gobsmacked. "How can we be out of coffee! I bought a massive bag not long ago!" I went to check the storecupboard and found a large bag of coffee, still plenty in it. I turned around to find Halt actually laughing and Raven smirking at me.

"Seeing as how you're right by it, would YOU mind making the coffee?" said Raven, still smirking. She obviously wasn't going to do any more housework than usual just because she was now my apprentice.

"Fine," I sighed, just as Alyss walked into the room.

"What's all this commotion about?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.

"A prank. Involving them tricking me into believing that we were out of coffee," I replied, gesturing to Halt and Raven (who were both still smirking), still feeling a little tetchy.

Alyss nearly fell over laughing.

"How could you fall for that? You bought out the shop like a week ago!" she choked between laughs. I glared at Raven, who seems to be completely unaffected by death glares. In the end, I couldn't help but laugh at my own stupidity. 'Oh well, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em,' I thought.

After a hearty breakfast and much drinking of coffee, we all headed outside to being training. Or rather, Raven and I headed outside to begin training, whilst Halt stood nearby to mock my teaching skills and check Raven's ability, and Alyss just sat going over some courier papers, although watching our daughter's progress aswell.

She already had all of her weapons and her cuff, so I pulled out a ranger cloak for her.

"Here, Raven. Your new cloak. A skilled ranger can use a cloak with camouflage such as this to great advantage, blending in with his, or now her, surroundings and becoming virtually invisible to the untrained eye," I said, passing the cloak. "Or a trained eye, if you're skilled enough." I added that as an afterthought, thinking of Gilan.

"Ah, I knew you weren't really sorcerers!" said Raven jokingly. Of course, she already knew that, with me as her father, Halt effectively a grandfather and Gilan effectively an uncle. Like Gilan and me, she often likes to joke around. It's a trait many rangers possess, considering there is next to no formality in the corps.

"So, let's see if you're any good with that bow of yours." She stepped up to the mark, before turning and saying,

"Why don't you show me how it's done, dad?" with a mischievous glint in her eye, as though she knew something that I didn't. I wasn't sure whether she was faking at first, but I gave her the benefit of the doubt, before showing her how to nock an arrow, and draw the bow, and finally shoot it, and I hit the direct center of the bullseye.

I remember when my son, Daniel, was training under Halt. He just about managed to hit the inner circle on his first shot, and now he was one of the best shots in the Ranger Corps, behind perhaps only Halt and myself.

Raven stepped up to the mark and pulled her bow to full draw much quicker than expected, and what happened next surprised me and shocked me even more. She hit the direct center of the bullseye too, only my arrow was still there. She had split it down the middle. Never before had I seen such skill in my life, especially from someone who'd only been an apprentice for a day.

"What, how?" I asked, lost for words, whilst Raven smirked at me, and rose an eyebrow at Halt. I turned to see him, his mouth hanging wide open.

"You might want to close your mouth, Halt, before you accidentally swallow a fly," quipped Raven, using one of Halt's favourite phrases against him. He regained his composure very quickly after that.

"She really is your daughter, isn't she?" said Halt, albeit weakly.

"I'd be rather worried if she wasn't," interjected Alyss.

"And was that supposed to be a compliment," said Raven.

I just stood there, admiring the skill of the young daughter. Not only was she already one of the best shots with a bow in Araluen, apart from possibly a few select rangers, depending on her speed, but also, she managed to get the last word with Halt. Twice. In a row. The only other person I've ever seen get the last word with Halt twice in a row is Lady Pauline, his wife.

I had the biggest sense of pride a father could feel.

"Are we all done admiring Raven's feat of causing more work for me later, or can we resume with training now?" I asked, returning to teacher mode, but then added, "not that you need it," quietly to Raven, so as not to be too Halt-like. She grinned at me and muttered,

"Thanks."

After a long, hard day of all sorts of things, Halt and I sat by the fire, discussing Raven's abilities. She had long since retired to bed after being exhausted, and Alyss was in our room, working. All day long we'd been testing Raven on all the crucial things you needed to learn to become a good ranger: archery, knife-throwing, hand-to-hand fighting, fighting close up with knives (including the double knife sword defence), stealth (silent and unseen movement), maps and geography, strategic thinking and some small knowledge of other things, like basic healing.

"So, she's an amazing archer," I started.

"She'll be the best in the corps one day, mark my words." Halt evidently agreed.

"She's decent at knife throwing, well, at about average for a ranger at the start of their apprenticeship."

"She's a very good hand-to-hand fighter," Halt said.

"She'd have to be, you should have seen the fights she had with her brother when they were younger," I chuckled.

"She's pretty much already mastered the double-knife sword defence."

"She's above par at silent and unseen movement, although Gilan will help her get even better at the gathering, I'm sure."

"And Jack, your former apprentice, is excellent with throwing knives, so he can help in that department."

"She's great with maps and knows her geography."

"She'd have to be, with her father drawing plenty of them and often going on about places around the world," Halt grinned.

"She's not at all lacking in strategic thinking, although I could easily help her improve her levels to above that of the other apprentices." Halt rolled his eyes.

"Yes, Will. We all know that you are in fact the best strategic thinker in the corps."

"Yes, that I am. So, overall, what are your opinions on my lovely young daughter, the first female ranger in the corps?"

"Overall, I'd say that she's remarkable in almost every respect. A prodigy-in-training, to say the least."

"And that's quite the compliment from you, Halt. Considering that I am now considered one of the top three rangers in the corps, and that just over a year into my apprenticeship you commented that I has 'just hit mediocrity'."

"Well, I do think that at this rate she'll end up as not only the first female ranger, but one of the best rangers ever to have existed. If not THE best."

Raven PoV

I felt a warm, glowing sense of pride inside. I had overheard the whole conversation from eavesdropping at my bedroom door when Halt and dad thought I was asleep. They thought I could be one of the best rangers ever! The mere thought of it made me feel giddy with excitement. I was thinking about my future as one if the best rangers ever to have existed when I finally drifted off to sleep.

**Sorry guys, but that's it for this chapter! I know it was relatively short by my standards, but I'm updating a lot more frequently than I thought possible, so give me some credit. I do have a lot of other things to do and a second story to work on (although admittedly, I'll probably be updating that one a little less than this one). That was one long-ass author's note at the start though. **

**Remember your 3R's – review, Review, REVIEW! Even if you do not have an account, please leave an anonymous review. Even if it's just to say that you like it. Or you hate it. It tells me that some people care – or don't. Anyway, enough of me randomly rambling on, just REVIEW and be done with it!**


	7. Riding Shadow

**I can't believe that I'm actually managing to update this fast. I mean, every day! It's just crazy! Thanks to all of the reviews so far, and thanks to Deathly Sarcasm who I believe has reviewed all of my last 3 chapters. Follow his example; REVIEW. I'm running out of ideas for this author's note, so I'm gonna do the disclaimer now.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own ranger's apprentice. However, I do own Raven. Lucky me. Oh wait, I also own any other characters that John Flanagan doesn't. So, yeah. I own all of the kids. I also own the new OC that will be introduced this chapter. So there.**

**Also, if you couldn't tell, I WAS being sarcastic with the comments on time skips before. I will be doing a couple now, but not by TOO much, only just too skip the boring training of a prodigy that I'm sure nobody really wants to read.**

**I don't really have much to say, other than how bad I think the prologue to this story ended up, and that I may not be updating my other story for a while, because this one's got more support. So I'll end the author's note here with one word. ReViEw.**

Riding Shadow

Yes, it is still Raven PoV, after I changed back at the end of last chapter

It was a week after becoming dad's apprentice, and I was in my element; I was at the happiest I'd ever been in my life. I was usually the first to wake these days, but I got up to find dad eating breakfast at the table.

"Want anything?" he asked, offering a piece of bread.

"Nah, not hungry. I'll just get some coffee for now," I said, going over to brew a cup.

"Make me one whilst you're there?" dad asked, hopefully. I rolled my eyes. You could tell who was boss around here.

"Just this once then."

"How's it just this once? You've made me coffee many times before."

"If you don't shut up I'll pour some of this coffee over your head."

"YOU WOULDN'T!"

"I would, but I don't want to. It would be a waste of good coffee." At this dad sank back into his seat, and I smirked at the fact that I'd shut him up. Me and dad often like to joke around like that. So do many rangers. Or at least, we less serious ones, me, dad, Gilan, and Halt if you get him drunk enough (just kidding) do. Even a sober Halt sometimes likes to joke around. And considering I barely know any rangers, I can hardly judge.

I've started calling it 'the ranger brand of humour'. A sharp wit and a good sense of humour and sarcasm are needed to succeed in this field.

Me and dad have discussed it, he's going to do a sort of 'archery competition' at the gathering this year, and I will be able to do my arrow-split trick. I can't wait to see the ranger's faces when I pull it off. Especially Gilan and Crowley's. According to dad and Halt, Crowley, the commandant, had been asking how well I'd been doing, but they replied with a smug 'you'll see at the gathering'.

I sat down at the table, coffee in hand, and passed dad his cup.

"We're going out somewhere today, and I think you'll enjoy it," said dad, with an 'I know something that you don't' look in his eye.

"Where?"

"You'll see." I didn't bother pressing him for more information, when I knew, firstly, that he wouldn't give it to me, and secondly, I had my suspicions, and my suspicions usually turned out to be correct.

"We are going to the place you get ranger voices from, correct?" I asked in a bored tone.

"Yes, how did you know? And aren't you looking forward to it?"

"Of course I am," I said, smiling, "I'm just bored with you not thinking me capable of working out the obvious."

"It's not obvious to most people."

"Well I'm not exactly most people am I? My father is a ranger, and I just so happen to also be his apprentice."

"True," dad replied, grinning sheepishly, "and considering I know all of the rangers, and none of the others have kids, apart from Gilan, whose kids aren't old enough to be apprenticed to anything yet, I don't think this situation has come about before. I mean your brother was apprenticed to Halt, not me.

We continued chatting idly for another hour before dad announced that it was time to go. I rode on the back of Tug with dad, and we were there in a couple of hours. We eventually approached an old-looking cabin, with a rather large stable and paddock. There was also a large open field and forest nearby. I smiled to myself at how good for training horses this place was.

An ancient-looking man was inside the cabin, and came outside and began walking towards us when he saw us through the window.

"Hello, ranger. Is this your apprentice you told me of?" he asked.

"Hullo, Old Bob, and yes, she is the apprentice we need the horse for," replied dad.

"I thought the corps didn't accept girls to be apprentices," said Old Bob, with a puzzled look on his face.

"Well, she is the first, and she just also happens to be my daughter," said dad, smiling slightly.

"Ah, that explains it," said Old Bob, grinning, "being the daughter of a ranger, the famous Will Treaty no less, she no doubt has what it takes. I'll just go get her for you."

I wondered for a moment who this woman was that he was getting, before I realised he was referring to a horse. MY horse. It was so exciting to be getting my own horse, and a ranger horse, no less. I'd ridden before, but never on my own, however, so I was slightly worried about making a fool of myself. At least I already knew about the passwords.

Old Bob returned two minutes later with a black mare, roughly the same size as Tug, possibly even smaller.

"Her name's Shadow," said Old Bob. Dad and I exchanged a grin at this; we both knew about the dog dad used to have, shadow, who was the mother of the dog we used to have, Ebony. "And she may not look like much, but she'll run all 'em big ol' battlehorses into the ground." He then stopped himself before he rambled too much. "But o' course, ye probably already know that don't ye?" He grinned.

I then spent much of the day learning how to take care of her and look after her, before we finally moved on to riding.

"Yeh'll have to catch her first," said Old Bob, letting Shadow out into the paddock. I rolled my eyes.

"That's easy," I said, grabbing an apple from a nearby barrel and holding it out to her. She came towards me and took the apple, so I hugged her round the neck, and then in my haste to ride I forgot about the passwords.

I put my foot into the stirrup and swung over, before remembering the passwords and saying,

"Crap, I forgot, the password." Shadow bucked me off but I was ready for it; I managed to do a complete backflip in the air, before landing silently on my feet, bending my knees to cushion the blow. I grinned at the look of awe on Old Bob's face, and the look on dad's face that clearly said he had expected what had happened.

"So what's the password?" I asked Old Bob.

In his daze he took a few seconds to reply, but eventually said,

"Shadow's password is 'I am the shadow rider'." I repeated it in my head, careful not to say it out loud so as not to give dad the satisfaction of saying 'not to me, to the horse'.

I walked up to Shadow, and whispered into her ear,

"I am the shadow rider." She whinnied softly in response, so I got on and positioned myself in the saddle comfortably. I practiced digging my heels into her sides to go faster, and tugging softly on the reigns to turn. I got the hang of it pretty quickly, so I returned.

We then spent a few hours with dad teaching me special tricks with ranger horses, such as how to quickly make her change gait. Finally, with only around one hour of daylight left, we headed home, after saying our goodbyes and thanks to Old Bob. 'It's just lucky he lives so close to redmont', I thought. I could imagine some rangers travelling days to get their horses.

When we finally got back home, even though it was still early for me, I was exhausted, so went straight to bed, and drifted off to sleep pretty quickly.

Will PoV

_2 hours later_

I sat with Halt in his quarters around the fire, discussing how the day had gone.

"She surprised us all, yet again," I said.

"Did Raven remember about the passwords?"

"Not at first, no, but once she'd got on she realised, and managed to do a full backflip in mid-air before landing softly and silently on two feet."

"Now that does sound quite spectacular," agreed Halt, "she will definitely be one of the greatest of all rangers. I have lots of confidence in her."

After another half an hour or so of discussion, Pauline got back, and she and Halt went off to bed, whilst I headed home. I found myself smiling and thinking to myself about the legend my daughter would surely carve out for herself, but like everyone, I thought, she would need help along the way.

**Yet again, folks, sorry it's not that long but I'm updating quickly! It's pretty much either 1500-odd word long chapters every day, or 2500-odd word long chapters every couple of days. I prefer the first option. Although if something crops up, I may not be able to do a chapter on a certain day. Anyhow, review and tell me how you think it's going so far.**


	8. Gathering Surprises

**Sorry I couldn't update as quick as I was doing. Some other work I had to do cropped up, and then I began working on a crossover story with the Saga of Darren Shan. It's coming along nicely. The chapters so far are only short, but it's slowly developing. It's on my profile, it's called The Araluen Vampire. Go check it out if you want, although PLEASE review this story before you go. **

**Big thanks to Deathly Sarcasm who keeps reviewing each new chapter as it comes out, and thanks to Chloe Altman Treaty who has reviewed a couple of times. I will try to incorporate partly the one of your ideas, aswell. It's going to be a courier being tutored by Alyss, but I can't think what bird to name her after. I got the idea for Raven as it is a cool sounding name and it makes the character seem tough yet layed back, and it displays her personality. **

**I can't think of a bird for a possible courier's personality, other than something like Crane, and that would be copying the Nihon-Jaians (or whatever they're called), and it doesn't sound like that good of a name. Please suggest your ideas. I've thought of a chapter name for them meeting and some fight of some sort bringing them together "**_**Birds of a feather flock together"**_**.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own ranger's apprentice. However, I do own Raven. Lucky me. Oh wait, I also own any other characters that John Flanagan doesn't. So, yeah. I own all of the kids. I also own Shadow. The horse, not the dog, dammit!**

Gathering Surprises

Raven PoV

I had only been dad's apprentice for a little over a month, and it was already time for my first gathering. I'd formed a fast friendship with my horse, Shadow, who I swear can understand me and talks back to me in her own little way. Then again, it is said that all rangers have conversations with their horses.

I knew that they would be testing me if I was ready to receive my bronze oakleaf yet, as a true mark of a ranger's apprentice, and I was quite confident in myself. Dad tried not to make it look like he holds me in high esteem in front of me, to keep me from getting a big head and making me train harder, I suppose. However, I've often heard him refer to me as a prodigy-in-training behind my back, so I was quite confident that I'd do well.

I was pretty much good at all ranger skills, and I had completely mastered the bow. I swear I was already better than dad. The thing I was most looking forward to, other than meeting the other rangers (especially other first-year apprentices) was the archery competition that dad and Halt were hosting. It was going to be a fun time shocking the other rangers.

I awoke to dad shaking me and saying,

"Raven, get up, get dressed and have some breakfast; you don't want to be late for your first gathering now do you."

"Where's Halt? Isn't he coming?"

"He's leaving later. However, we're taking a slightly more indirect route."

"Why?"

"Well, you see, on our way to gathering, us rangers like to 'catch our former masters off guard'. It's just because we like to say we learnt our master's tricks and are better than them now."

"Can't wait till it's my turn to do that to you!" I said, and dad laughed.

"Yeah, well, we, along with Gilan, are gonna try and catch Halt out, like we always do. Except we usually fail. However, we have you now."

"And what makes you think I'd be of any use to you?" I asked jokingly, trying to get him to openly admit I was a prodigy.

"You'd serve as an extra distraction for Halt."

"And what about James, won't he be trying to catch YOU out?"

"Of course. But he never wins. And I'm confident he won't this time. And when we beat him he'll be an extra person to help get Halt. Oh, and we're meeting Gilan on the way."

"Anyway, dad, shouldn't we get going now?"

"After coffee," he said.

"After coffee," I agreed. I heard snickering from mum and dad's room, and heard a sound that was undoubtedly mum muttering, "rangers and their coffee."

An hour and more cups of coffee than was healthy later, we saddled up to head off to the gathering. I had no idea of the way, so I couldn't travel a bit ahead, like I sometimes do. Eventually, we came to a crossroads, and we sat down to have a rest.

"You're late," said a voice, coming from behind me. The person was disguising their voice, although I could still recognise it, just not place it.

"Yeah, well, we got distracted," said dad, obviously realising who it was. Then I mentally kicked myself. Gilan! Obviously it was him, who else would say 'you're late'? We weren't meeting anyone else!

"What! What could distract you so much?" exclaimed Gilan.

"Coffee!" me and dad replied in unison, chuckling.

"I should have known," said Gilan, rolling his eyes. "Anyway, Raven, how's training going? You any good?"

"You'll see," I said, smirking.

After a few minutes of idle chat and discussion, we headed off again, in the direction of the gathering. As dad had already explained to me, it would have been quicker, but we were taking an indirect route in order to catch Halt by surprise.

After a couple of hours of riding, we finally came close to our destination.

"Shh," dad said quietly, and we fell silent. "Can you hear it?"

"Yes, a horse," I replied.

"Change gait, on 3," said Gilan, and after a count to 3, we all quickly changed gait. So did the unknown horse, very quickly. "A ranger horse, definitely."

"How can you tell?" I asked.

"Only a ranger horse could change gait that quickly," dad replied for him.

"Raven, you get into that tree up there; we'll keep him chatting and you can surprise him from above," dad said, as we approached a clearing. We all stopped at pretty much the same time, and I led shadow out to some bushes where she could stay hidden.

"Stay," I said, "and be silent." Shadow nodded her response. At least that's what I thought she did. After that, I easily scaled the tree; I was great at climbing, a skill I, in the words of Halt, 'no doubt inherited from my father'.

Once I was perched at the top I silently got myself into a good position from which I could easily see and shoot without being seen, before wrapping my cloak more tightly around myself and pulling the cowl down slightly further. I then clutched my bow, nocked an arrow to it and watched as the scene below me unfolded.

"Will," said a voice, and I realised it was James, who must have been following us. "Caught you out this year, finally, haven't I? And Gilan too!"

"Still playing this silly game then I see, James?" replied dad.

"Silly? How many times did we attempt to catch Halt when I was your apprentice?"

"5? Every year, wasn't it?" dad replied, smirking. "And we failed every time, didn't we?"

"Yes, but now I've finally won! I've caught you out!" exclaimed James.

"Don't be so sure," said dad.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" asked Gilan.

"What? What do you guys know and I don't?" asked James, bewilderment on his face.

"This," dad replied, shooting a look towards where he thought I was. Unfortunately, he looked in the wrong direction, but I had been watching and listening, so within seconds I had fired an arrow, which had gone straight through James' hood and pinned him to the tree.

I jumped down as Gilan was howling with laughter.

"Hi, James," I said. We knew each other from when he was dad's apprentice, and we got along well.

"Hi!" he exclaimed, pulling my arrow out of his hood. "I forgot you were apprenticed to your dad now! That was some nice marksmanship there! And here's your arrow back," he said, smiling sheepishly and passing me my arrow.

"Thanks," I replied. "Come on dad, Gilan, and James if you're joining us, we've got a famous ranger to catch, and we haven't got all day.

"Halt?" asked James.

"Yup," I replied.

We rode off for a while, and then as we started hearing others nearby we left our horses, and continued on foot. I saw a flicker of a dark silhouette, but it faded into it's surroundings – it was a ranger, seemingly trying to catch someone out. We followed him quietly, and he seemed too caught up in what he was doing to notice. We did keep at a safe distance, though, bows strung and quivers at our sides.

It was then that we noticed someone else approaching the first figure from the side.

"Daniel!" a voice boomed, with a distinct Hibernian burr in the accent – it was Halt! – "Still playing your silly game I see."

"Drat, foiled again!" said the other person, chuckling, when I suddenly realised it was my older brother, Dan. 'Of course!' I thought, he had been Halt's apprentice, just like dad and Gilan! He would obviously have been trying to catch Halt out just like us. I then found myself wondering why dad didn't enlist his help in the first place, when my question was answered for me.

"Dad offered to team up, but I wanted to try alone. Maybe I should have accepted," said Dan.

"Yes, you should have," replied Halt. We, dad, Gilan, James and I had all been hiding in separate bushes. Then I heard a loud sneeze from James' bush.

"What was that?" said Dan, eyes becoming sharp. I looked at dad as if to say, _when the time arises, you get Halt, and I'll get Dan, _also gesturing, so he understood. As Halt and Dan approached James' bush, he stepped out and said,

"Hi Halt, hi Dan. I was just looking for dad to sneak up on him. You seen him?" I was amazed at his skill of thinking up lies on the spot, and passing them off as the truth. Dan and Halt bought his story, luckily.

"No," said Halt, "I'm presuming he's with Gilan, and the two of them were always the best silent and unseen movers in the corps, respectively."

"What about Crowley?" inquired Dan.

"Your father surpassed him years ago. Do not tell him I said this, though, he does not need any inflation of his head." I chuckled silently to myself.

"And what about your sister, Dan, I heard she's your dad's apprentice now, she any good?"

"You'll see at the gathering," replied Halt, so Dan didn't have to answer. "Although I will tell you that she is already almost as good a silent and unseen mover as her father and Gilan. Although, likewise, do not tell her I said this, her head is probably inflated enough as it is."

I huffed, but grinned at the same time. I for one knew that Halt did not give praise lightly, but he gave credit where credit was due.

"Seriously, she's that good?" said James, faking surprise. He already knew I was good because of our run-in earlier. I must admit, he had amazing acting skills. "They couldn't be around here anywhere could they?"

We took that as our cue to act. I did the same moth on Dan as I did on James earlier, pinning him to the tree, at the same time as dad shot an arrow between Halt's legs, narrowly missing his crotch. This certainly startled Halt – well, that was an understatement. He jumped out of his skin! I briefly wondered where Gilan had gone, but I then went back to the situation at hand.

"Surprise!" I yelled, jokingly.

"So, Halt, it seems the game is up. We finally have caught you after these many years of failed attempts," said dad.

"Oh really?" said Halt, having regained his composure. It was at that moment when someone came out of the bushes behind us.

"Surprise!" he said, and I realised it was Crowley.

"Surprise!" said someone else, jumping out of a nearby tree and landing on Crowley's back. Luckily the tree wasn't too high. So that's where Gilan had gone. He must have spotted Crowley.

"You were saying?" dad said, raising an eyebrow. Halt was speechless.

"How long were you there, Crowley?" I asked.

"About 30 seconds, and I believe only Halt and obviously Gilan noticed me, why?

"No reason." I said. My real reason was to find out if he'd been there long enough to see the shot I did against Dan, and I let out a sigh of relief – he hadn't. We could still manage our plan to attempt to drop his jaw then. Or give him a heart attack. Or whatever.

It was at that moment Dan came up behind me, quietly handing me back my arrow and congratulating me before starting up a conversation with the others. After a couple of minutes of chat, we all headed off for gathering together; we were less than five minutes away now.

As we arrived, the realisation of being the first, and currently only, female ranger hit me. Dad saw the look on my face and guessed what I was thinking.

"It doesn't bother you, does it?" he asked, quietly, kindly.

"No, not at all," I replied cheerily, "I just feel a little like the odd one out, I guess, but that's all.

We all started to head off in slightly different directions. Halt went with Crowley to the main tent, to discuss plans for the gathering, Jack and Dan went off to the junior ranger's area, to set up camp and meet up with us later, and dad, Gilan and I went off to the senior ranger's area. I could see where it was so I carried on ahead.

Two boys, about a year older than me – second year apprentices, at my guess – saw me and scoffed.

"A female ranger?" one said, "what next, a horse ranger?" I felt my face burning up and my cheeks turning red.

"How did you get in? You don't look so great." The other said.

"That's my daughter and apprentice you're talking about there, lads," came dad's voice from behind me, cool, calm and collected.

"Umm, sorry, ranger Will Treaty, sir! We didn't know!" one of them said, before they both scarpered.

"Don't let them bother you, you'll prove yourself to any rangers with doubts soon enough," said dad, a slight hint of, not anger, but annoyance in his voice. "One of those idiots is apprenticed to Meralon, a buffoon of a ranger if I ever saw one." I sniggered. "I don't know about the other one."

"It's ok," I said, having regained my composure. "They'll be the ones wetting themselves at the archery completion." Gilan chuckled, having now caught up with us.

"I'd forgotten about that!" Gilan said, "I want to see what tricks you two pull out of the bag. Great archers, if I ever saw them."

After we'd finished idly chatting and setting up camp, we, along with the rest of the rangers, headed off to the main tent, where Crowley was addressing all of us, with an announcement.

"My friends, I have big news," he said, "I am getting quite old. Very old, for a ranger, in fact. So I have decided that, after this gathering, I am retiring from the corps." Everyone looked shocked, except for Halt, Will and Gilan, who were smiling. I guessed Crowley, for whatever reason, had already told the three of them.

"What about Halt?" called dad from the crowd. Halt shot him a death glare, before replying with,

"I am not THAT old, Will. I wish to stay a few more years yet before retiring."

"And that leaves us with the issue of who is to be the new commandant," continued Crowley, "now I have offered this post to three different rangers before the third one finally accepted. First, I offered it to a ranger I'm sure you all know of well and have heard many great things about, Halt. However, he declined the offer saying that he didn't fancy the idea of being cooped up in Castle Araluen doing paperwork. Although, I feel it has more to do with Halt himself getting old and not wanting to take a post he would retire from in a few years." Everyone chuckled, except for Halt, who looked deeply unamused.

"The next ranger I asked, I am sure you are all deeply familiar with – Will Treaty. However, he declined due to a number of reasons, the most namely of which being that he is training his daughter as his apprentice and this may get in the way of commandant duties, and that he wishes to remain with his wife in Redmont, who is the head of the diplomatic service there." I shot a sideways glance at dad, who was grinning and nodding his head.

"The third and final ranger I asked, who has accepted and will be the commandant soon, is Gilan, who I believe has proved himself on numerous occasions."

There were cheers at this and Gilan had a huge grin on his face – obviously, he was a popular ranger.

"He has been helping me at Castle Araluen recently, as he doesn't have a fief currently, with there being more rangers than fiefs. As the new commandant, he will be taking Araluen fief over from me when I retire, but I will be 'staying on' for a few years, coming to gatherings and such, helping out Gilan until he gets settled in with his duties."

I grinned at Gilan, showing my support for him in his new position.

"Surprise!" he suddenly shouted, in the same tone we had been using earlier. He, Dan, James, dad, Crowley and I all fell apart laughing, and even Halt was struggling to hold it in. Everyone was staring at us awkwardly.

"It doesn't matter, just a joke between us from earlier," said Crowley, before continuing with his talk. New rangers who had just finished their apprenticeships were given their first fiefs, some rangers were moved about, and some were given their gold oakleafs, including Crowley. It was actually rather funny watching him attempting to present it to himself without looking like a prat, and failing dismally.

"Oh, and, there will be an archery competition tomorrow, to determine who is the best of our older rangers, and whether any of the newer faces can hold a candle to them," announced Crowley, towards the end of the day. "Full rules and other details will be announced tomorrow." Many faces lit up at this news, including mine, even though I already knew about it. "That is all for today."

"Great Idea Will," said Crowley quietly as he passed us, "I've been thinking of making it an annual event, like, y'know, at every gathering. Well, Gilan and I have. What do you think?"

"Brilliant," dad and I replied, with a glint in our eyes.

"I thought you'd say that. And like father like daughter, eh?"

"Like father like daughter," we replied, again in unison. Our unified replies were really freaking him out. I could tell some fun times lay ahead. To be honest, I was slightly freaked out by the unified replies also. However, I thought 'well, great minds think alike, and in this case, the other great mind is my father'.

Later on we went back to our tent and went to sleep; it came easily for me as I was thinking about the day ahead and the archery competition that would surely be an amazing competition of the best of the best for years to come. Oh, what I would give to win the FIRST EVER annual rangers' archery competition, after only a little over a month of apprenticeship. That would go down in history books.

I couldn't wait.

**Hey, guys. I'm amazed! That was over 3000 words! I hope this long and hopefully interesting chapter made up for the lateness of my update. As I said before, some stuff came up and then I started working on a Darren Shan crossover, but now I've came back to work on this and written my longest chapter yet!**

**This chapter was really fun to write, and I hope it was as fun to read. I can't wait till the next one, the archery competition is gonna be amazing! As always, please review and leave your thoughts/opinions/suggestions, even if you do not have an account on this site leave an anonymous one!**

**-DarkArmedRanger**


	9. Competition Of Fate

**Hey, guys! Sadly I will not be able to update this every day; I just can't justify it with the other stuff I have to do, including a fan fiction I'm working on for The Saga Of Darren Shan, and a crossover between it and R.A. However, I will be trying to stick to updating this at least once or twice a week, as originally planned. Have fun reading and review! If you happen to like Darren Shan, check out my crossover and Darren Shan story; links on my profile, obviously.**

**Disclaimer: See previous chapter(s). Or see below.**

**Disclaimer (no, really, it's actually it this time): I own the ideas used (well, most of them), and any characters that you do not recognise; anything else belongs to Mister John Flanagan, and whatever the hell book publishing company that he's used for the country you're in.**

Competition Of Fate

STILL Raven PoV (Yes, I did put this here just to spite you. Muhahahaha, evil = fun.)

I felt good when I woke up that morning. Although most rangers were still giving me shifty looks, they didn't openly bother me or talk down to me, as my father and mentor is highly respected in the corps. I was glad of it on this occasion, although usually I do prefer to fight my own battles.

The 'competition of fate' as I had taken to call it, was set to take place around midday, and would set apart the strong archers and the ones who still needed work. I could see how the competition would be a great way to test apprentices in the future.

I sat with Gilan, Halt, Crowley, Dan, dad and James as we all drank coffee and chatted about the competition ahead. I was the only one who didn't practice my bowmanship (Crowley still hadn't seen me in action, and we wanted to shock him at the tournament); we shook him off by saying I'd been training hard constantly for a month and I'd earned the right to rest.

As I watched them train I realised how right about me in at least one thing most people I meet are; I really am my father's daughter, and proud to be. The only one of the others who's skill with the bow could match his (not including me) was Halt, but he sorta doesn't count, because, y'know, he's legendary, and he's had like over 40 years of practice.

Although dad won't admit it, everyone says he's the best in the corps at silent movement, and I believe them. Gilan still beets him in unseen movement, though. And, naturally, after years of being cooped up in Castle Araluen poring over maps, working out battle strategies and organising the rangers, Crowley was the best in the corps with maps and geography. But not for long. He would be leaving this gathering.

At midday, we all gathered around the centre of the gathering grounds, where a huge archery range had been set up. Crowley got up and explained the rules to everyone.

"Ok, if I could have your attention please. As you can see, scoring systems have been marked on the 5 targets, all different distances away. The first three rounds will be based on points, but an additional point is awarded for each second under 15 seconds you take to shoot at all five targets. 10 points are awarded for hitting directly in the center, 8 for the inner ring, 6 for the next, and so forth. You must, and may only shoot one arrow at each target. After each of the first three rounds, the bottom 24 scoring competitors will be eliminated, leaving only the top 12, for which the rules will be explained when we get there."

"I doubt any apprentices will be among any of that 12. In fact, I will be seriously shocked if even ONE is!" I heard one ranger mutter to another. I smirked to myself at this. How foolish they were! There were many apprentices in this competition, but I would beat them all!

We went in order of ranger numbers, then any apprentices they had. Crowley was up first, and he scored ten on every target except for the furthest away one, on which he scored 6. He did it in 12 seconds, giving him a total score of 49.

Since Crowley had no apprentice, it went to the next ranger, which just so happened to be Halt. He also did it in 12 seconds also, but he scored an 8, not a 6 on the last target, aswell as 10s on the others, give him a total score of 51. After Halt, many rangers followed, but he had set the benchmark, and set it HIGH. Somebody scored 47, but that was the highest anyone got. Few had managed it in under 15 seconds, and no-one had managed to match Halt's score on the last target.

Then came Gilan's turn. He was determined, he was a popular ranger and the soon-to-be commandant. He let fly a whirlwind of arrows that took him only 11 seconds, and he managed to match Halt's score of 8 on the last target! However, his speed had cost him a slight bit of accuracy on the penultimate target, which he also only got 8 points for. This gave him a total of 50 points, putting him in second. He was frustrated that he could not beat his old mentor, but everyone still cheered him loudly; he had beaten the old commandant.

After a couple more people came Dan's turn. He managed to match Gilan's time of 11 seconds, but what's more – he scored 10/10/10/10/8 on the targets. Giving him a total of 52 points, putting him in first place! This was close though, there was only one point between 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. I was elated for my brother at his success; he had beaten Halt, and that is one of the most difficult tasks anyone had ever achieved in their life.

Halt looked slightly pissed that he would not be winning, but he cheered all the same. We were all good friends, but me and dad probably cheered the loudest, being family. It was close with Gilan though, who was greatly happy that at least Halt was beaten by a former apprentice, even though it couldn't be him.

Just a few competitors later, James was up. I can't remember his exact score, but he didn't do too badly and I doubted he would be one of the first 24 knocked out. I also severely doubted that he would make the final 12. Now, the top 4 were all people I knew well, and the top 5 were each separated by one point each.

Then, all of a sudden, it was dad's turn. He stepped up to the mark and fired, he scored exactly the same as Dan. However, I don't believe he fully tried. I noticed a second's hesitation on the last shot, which could have been avoided. Everyone cheered even louder at dad's score; he and Halt were the two most respected rangers in the corps, and everyone, although they liked Halt, liked to see him get beaten once in a while.

"Hey, Halt," I whispered, smirking, "how will it feel when you miss out on the chance of a podium spot because you got beaten by the three treatys?" Nobody heard what I said except for Halt, who looked unamused, and Dan, who directed a wide grin at me.

It was finally my turn. I didn't feel like taking risks JUST yet, so I didn't try any skill shots. I concentrated deeply and even I was shocked by the result. I managed 12 seconds, but I scored 10 on every target, even that elusive farthest target no-one could master. I had done it. I had snatched first from the grip of my brother and father, and snatched the podium from my grandfather-figure. From that moment on, no-one doubted me.

It was rather amusing, standing there looking around all of the other rangers and apprentices staring at me, mouths hanging open in shock.

"Guys," I said, "I don't mean to be rude, but you might want to shut your mouths before you swallow flies and choke on them." Everyone seemed to unfreeze at this comment. A wave of laughter rippled through the crowd, before a huge round of applause broke out. One of the apprentices from the previous day before came to me and apologized for doubting me and being so rude, which I accepted, and I distinctly heard many people telling dad that bowmanship clearly runs in the family.

"Gilan," said Crowley, "you NEED to get more female apprentices. Seriously."

"I will, Crowley, I will," replied Gilan, chuckling.

"Thanks for the compliment, Crowley," I muttered as I walked past, a huge grin on my face. There were still a few to go after me but none of them hit the top ten. After having eliminated the bottom 24, we swiftly moved onto the next round, scores afresh. This time, however, we were going to go in order of our scores from the previous round, lowest to highest. In cases of ties we got to choose.

So, basically, I was going last, with Dad just before me, Dan just before him, Halt just before him, and Gilan just before him. When it came to James' turn he did a bit better than last time and managed to keep himself from elimination again. After seeing everyone else's skill levels, I decided to save my concentration and energy for the knockout rounds, and do enough to keep me in. However, everyone else seemed to do the same.

I ended up tying for first with dad, Halt and Dan, with Crowley and Gilan tying for second. The third round went pretty much the same, and me and everyone I knew made it through to the knockout stages, amazingly, including James!

The knockout rounds were going to be challenges, and anyone who failed to pass the challenge of that round would be eliminated. I could sense that my trick-shot skills were going to be needed here. The first challenge was QUITE simple, well, at least for a ranger. 2 arrows, 2 targets 200 metres away, 2 hits within the inner '8 point' circle were required to pass.

Halt, dad and Dan all sailed through, Crowley and Gilan also got through and so did a couple others. Sadly, James' arrow was caught by a gust of wind and knocked off course, so he failed. So did two other competitors. I was the only apprentice in the top 12, and assuming I got through this, top 9.

However, I saw, out of the corner of my eye, one of the apprentices from the previous day, the one who didn't apologise. He looked sour. Just as I fired my first arrow, he purposefully grunted loudly, causing me to lose concentration and my arrow to veer off course. However, I had a stroke of brilliance, and at lightning speed, nocked another arrow, aimed, drew the bow, and fired. The second arrow hit the first in mid-air, causing the first to veer back on course and hit the inner circle of the first target. What's more, the second arrow continued on to get a bullseye in the second target.

The apprentice had shamed himself even more, and the cheers deafened me. The next round, however, was considerably more difficult. Crowley called it 'the challenge of two', 2 close-range targets, 2 arrows (1 in each), 2 seconds, 2 bullseye's required. I knew this was hard when Halt went first and failed, he was just outside the two second mark. What's more, Crowley and Gilan also failed, and so did everyone else, until only 3 were left standing: us. The legendary Treaty family.

I was beginning to think it was impossible, but then it was Dan's turn. He was lightning-fast, so fast that his hands were a blur. He managed it, in just over a second, he had scored bullseyes in both targets.

"Beat THAT" he said, grinning over to me and dad, happy in the knowledge that he had definitely beaten everyone but his family members.

"I'll knock you off that podium yet!" I replied, "as soon as dad's done!"

Dad stepped up to the mark, and like Dan, did it due to lightning-fast reflexes. I could have sworn Halt groaned because he had to now go through at least one other round without him in it. Little did I know but it was for a different, but similar reason.

Then, it was my turn. I knew I wasn't fast enough, but I'd always been good at thinking outside the box. And I had an idea. It was mad, and very risky...but it just might work. I stepped up to the mark, and quickly nocked, not 1, but 2 arrows at once, and sent them off to the targets. Miraculously, they both hit a bullseye! Yet again, the cheers were deafening. Halt groaned even loader and Crowley congratulated me on my skill of thinking outside of the box.

"Top 3 to the Treatys," I said, smirking, as I rejoined my father and brother. They joined in with my smirking. "So, Crowley, what is the next round?" He went quiet.

"Umm, well, I kinda didn't think more than one person would beat that last challenge, so there isn't another one," he said, before seeing the looks on our faces, and quickly adding, "but I'm sure we can think up a tiebraker. Halt?" Halt then winked at me, an evil grin forming on his face. This meant he had a plan, a plan that would work in my favour.

"I have an idea," he said, "simultaneous shots. They all fire an arrow at one target at the same time, whoever gets closest to the bullseye wins. And just to make it harder for them, why not put the target 250 metres away?" I could DEFINITELY see how this could work in my favour. Halt was grinning mischievously, and Dan and dad were glum. Crowley, however, lit up, and loved the idea. However, he didn't know about my arrow-splitting trick-shot skill (literally).

It was quickly set up and we all stepped up to the mark, and once we were ready, Crowley counted down from 5. Dad and Dan fired almost instantly on the "GO!" but onlookers watched me, confused. As soon as the arrows had hit their marks, Dan's having missed the bullseye by millimetres, and dad's having hit it, Crowley began announcing that dad was the winner.

However, he was interrupted by a loud crack and a thud; MY ARROW HAD HIT IT'S MARK! Just like in training, my arrow split dad's straight through the middle, giving me the final bullseye. Nobody had been expecting THAT! First of all, an apprentice winning, second of all, the first and currently ONLY female ranger winning, and thirdly the winning shot being a shot that split the supposed winning arrow down the middle!

I was elated.

"I did it, I actually won!" I shouted to Dan over the volume of the crowd's cheers.

"What's more," he said, grinning proudly. "Top 3 to the Treaty's!"

"You're mother's gonna be so proud of you two!" exclaimed dad. Me, dad and Dan all won medals, gold for me, silver for dad, bronze for Dan, and our names were carved into a huge wooden board that had been set up. It read:

_Annual Ranger's Archery Competition_

_1) 1__st__: Raven Treaty (apprentice), 2__nd__: Will Treaty, 3__rd__: Daniel Treaty._

And there was plenty of space foe future competitions. I had a feeling my name would be coming up a lot more times on this 'scoreboard' for the 'competition of fate'.

**Hey, guys. I hope you had as much fun reading this chapter as I had writing it! It isn't my LONGEST chapter, but I had to revise it twice. So it took me a while. But, it was all fun. As always please leave any suggestions in YOUR REVIEW, you can even leave an anonymous one if you don't have an account. Just 2 minutes out of your day can make mine. I'm happy that I also managed to update within 2-3 days too! **

**I will update soon.**

**-DarkArmedRanger**


	10. Back Down To Earth

**Sorry about the wait, guys! Some stuff cropped up that I had to do, plus I was working on that DSS fic I mentioned. Those of you who said she's a little Mary-Sue, you are correct. However, do not worry, she will be brought back down to Earth in this chapter. After all, don't forget, this has mainly been from her perspective, and she's meant to seem a little cocky and overconfident. Her skills with a bow can be explained by inheriting her father's natural talent, and gradually training from a young age. I read somewhere that it is easier to learn things and skills sink in more and develop better at a young age.**

**Oh, and to that reviewer who mentioned it (sorry I forgot your name!), yes, my name "DarkArmedRanger" is a play on "Dark Armed Dragon" from yu-gi-oh. I play card games – what of it? No, seriously, TCGs rule.**

**To the reviewer who wondered why it wasn't a draw between Raven and Will, it was because Raven's arrow split Will's down the center, so therefore Will's was no longer in the center, it was around Raven's arrow, which was in the center, if that makes sense. Don't bother asking how she split his metal arrowhead, she just did. Deal with it. It's a made up fanfiction, it doesn't have to make sense. Lol.**

**Disclaimer: I own anything you do not recognise, unless you recognise it from earlier in this fic. Or unless you have never read Ranger's Apprentice. Anyhow, I own all the OCs, everything else is owned by John Flanagan.**

Back Down To Earth

We were so happy, so excited. I had won, dad had come second, Dan had come third. We were all cheering and drinking – you guessed it – coffee! It's like the ranger equivalent of alcohol. Dad was playing his mandola, and singing, 'Cabin In The Trees'. It's like some sort of unofficial ranger theme song or something. Some of the other rangers even joined in with the singing; not me though, I can't sing for toffee.

Anyway, there we were, all celebratory and joyful, when a ranger, with huge bags under his eyes – I doubted he'd slept for a week – and a few bruises and cuts appeared in the trees. He collapsed onto the ground, albeit still conscious.

Me, Gilan, Dan and a few other rangers rushed over to him.

"Zyron...active. Found...kalkara, ten of them," struggled the ranger, before completely collapsing and falling unconscious. Gilan went and checked his pulse.

"He's still alive, just sleeping." Muttered Gilan. I was in a state of shock. It was thought that there were only 3 kalkara, and my dad killed the last one when he was my age. From what I'd heard, they were fearsome creatures. Their hides were extremely tough – even a lance would struggle to penetrate it. Their only weakness was fire, but their eyes could paralyse you with a stare, and kill you if it stared long enough.

So, basically, you didn't usually manage to get close enough to assault it with a torch.

A few hours later, after a long meeting, dad came back to where me and Dan were sitting. He was idly eating some meat and I was staring at nothing, still in a state of shock. Dad sighed.

"It seems that Zyron is active again," said dad, bitterly, "and has found a 'tribe' of ten kalkara, in the mountains of rain & night, and is bribing them with silver as we speak. The ranger you saw earlier was Harry – he's one of the scouts we sent to the mountains. After he discovered this information, he was nearly killed by wargals. And now the Kalkara are on the loose – no doubt hunting their next victim. I'm afraid we're going after them."

I nodded glumly, I'd expected as much. We departed that night – me, dad, Dan, James, Halt and Crowley were all on the hunt, and we were meeting up with a band of 15 knights. Gilan wanted to come, but since he was the new commandant, he had duties to take care of.

A few days later, we had joined up with the knights, and we heard the screams of the Kalkara. I had been on my third attempt at cooking at the time – although my attempts were futile. The first time I actually somehow managed to set water alight with flame! They had separated into two groups of 5, and we'd found the 'base' of one of those groups. I had got over my shock, and Dan and I were scouting around the kalkara's base, whilst everyone else was back at camp.

I felt cocky and slightly arrogant, and pretty much strolled into the kalkara's base ahead of Dan. I saw that there were indeed 4 kalkara, huddled around a large pile of silver, almost worshipping it. In my cockiness I failed to realise that there were only 4 kalkara out of the supposed 5. I was just about to leave when I bumped into the 5th kalkara. It howled. I screamed.

My whole world was thrown into chaos as it stared at me, and I was paralysed by fear, and images of my worst nightmares flashed before my eyes. Amazingly, the other kalkara hadn't seemed to come to this one's aid. I swore the kalkara was excited, and I could tell I was about to die. I sobbed to myself inwardly, I was paralysed, glued to the spot I was standing in. I couldn't even call for help.

Suddenly, an arrow seemingly came out of nowhere, hitting the kalkara in the eye, puncturing it. The kalkara howled in pain and broke it's glare, giving me control of myself once more.

"Run, Raven, run! Get back to camp! I'll follow after!" I heard a voice shout, before realising it was Dan. My brother came to my rescue! I didn't need to be told twice. I ran off, and then had second thoughts. I turned around and saw my brother's throwing knife fly through the air and hit the kalkara in the other eye. It was now completely blind.

I ran up to my brother, and pulled him back with me.

"Come on, we need to get back to camp and tell the others. We can't fight them on our own!" I said, pointing out the fact that the other four kalkara had now joined the fray.

"Yeah," he agreed, "we can outrun them on horseback." We quickly ran back to our horses, and I jumped onto shadow, whispering words of encouragement and practically hugging her so I didn't fall off, the speed she was going. She ran like the wind, leaving the kalkara in the dust behind us.

I made it back to camp a little way ahead of Dan, and I noticed I was crying. The events had struck my hard, and brought me down to Earth. I was no longer cocky and arrogant, I realised just how powerless I was against these beasts.

I found dad's tent and rushed into it, he was chatting with Halt when I got there.

"What's happened?" dad asked. Then he took one look at my face before assuming the worst. "Oh no... Dan's not... he's still alive – isn't he? He didn't... die?" Dad was horror-struck.

"No," I managed to half-chuckle, "but I nearly did. Dan will be back soon. Shadow sure is fast." Then I broke out into a fit of sobs, before hugging dad and recounting the events of the night to them. Dad was reassuring me, saying how he'd felt the same when he first encountered the kalkara.

Somehow I doubted it. I had literally felt not able to do anything, even before I was held under the kalkara's paralysing glare. They just had this weird effect on me. And their screams...they just chilled me to the bone.

**I'm sorry it was short but I did skim over quite a lot of things, I literally just briefly mentioned some earlier events. I am sorry, this is because life's hectic for me at the moment, and if I'm honest, my DSS fic is simply more fun to write. However, don't vent your frustration out on me in your review, I promise the next chapter will be longer, although I'm unsure as to when it will be out. **

**This was mainly just to show that Raven's not completely Mary-Sue, although I can tell I kinda didn't do that great of a job of it. However, some writer's characters are much more Mary-Sue/Gary-Stu than mine, and some take much longer to update. So I'm not all that bad.**

**-DarkArmedRanger**


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